Kenya is expected to benefit from a new Sh68 billion (US$675 million) fund set up to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
The World Health Organization yesterday said the fund would cover a preparedness and response plan between February and April 2020.
"My biggest worry is that there are countries today who do not have the systems in place to detect people who have contracted the virus, even if it were to emerge," said a statement by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general.
Until last week, only South Africa and Senegal had the capacity to detect the virus on the continent. But yesterday, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone reported they can conduct tests as well.
Kenya's head of disease surveillance Daniel Langat said Kenya has the capacity to test but lacks the required reagents. Dr Langat said the WHO is sending the reagents to Kenya this week.
The new fund will help the WHO rollout plans to limit human-to-human transmission of the virus, particularly in countries most vulnerable if they were to face an outbreak.
"Urgent support is needed to bolster weak health systems to detect, diagnose and care for people with the virus, to prevent further human-to-human transmission and protect health workers," Dr Tedros added.
It will also help countries identify, isolate and care for patients early. Kenya would also use some of the funds to construct more isolation units.
While there are no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus reported in Africa, the WHO African office said it was strengthening its support to countries in the detection and management of suspect cases. Kenya has had five suspected cases, all of which turned negative.
Since January 22, 2020, the WHO has received dozens of alerts regarding possible novel coronavirus infections from 20 African countries. Once countries investigate these alerts to determine if they meet the definition of a 2019-nCoV suspect case, samples are taken and sent to laboratories.
"A new virus is always a challenge and most laboratories in Africa lack the key material they need to perform tests on a novel pathogen," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.
The WHO has identified 13 priority countries in the region, including Kenya, which, due to their direct links or a high volume of travel to China, need to be particularly vigilant for the novel coronavirus. By February 4, there were 20,471 confirmed cases in China, with 425 deaths. Outside of China, there were 159 confirmed cases in 23 countries with one death.
